


The Hero For Once

by Welsper



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Captivity, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Redemption, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-12-27 02:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21111182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welsper/pseuds/Welsper
Summary: They have Gajeel’s girl and his cat. They’re going to regret it.





	The Hero For Once

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertVixen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/gifts).

“Gajeel!”

Levy jumped up in bed, pain burning in her chest. Her breath came to her barely and her nightclothes stuck to her skin, slick with sweat. Tears were damp on her cheeks and she sniffled.

“Hrm… Levy?”

She only calmed down when she heard that deep voice next to her, drowsy with sleep. One of her hands buried in the thick strands of Gajeel’s hair, gently brushing it out of his face.

“It’s nothing, Gajeel. Go back to sleep.”

But he was already rising, that hulking form of his. Soft sheets fell to their knees as he sat up and wrapped an arm around her to pull her close. Levy leaned into his muscular chest with a sigh, burying her wet face in his skin. He was the Metal Dragon Slayer, but he was more comfortable than anything for Levy in the whole world. His arms felt right around her and when he kissed her, it took her all to not melt entirely.

He always acted so tough and scary, but Levy knew he wasn’t at all. Not any more. Those days were gone. Gajeel was kind and gentle and he had dreams like everyone else. A family… Levy blushed a little and was glad her face was hidden in Gajeel’s chest.

“It’s not nothing. What’s wrong? Nightmares again?”

Levy nodded mutely. Gajeel pressed a kiss on top of her head and she looked up with a smile. Maybe to everyone else, he looked scary, with his hard face and his sharp teeth and the missing eyebrows. Maybe to everyone else, the temper and the intensity turned them off, but it only drew Levy in deeper. Gajeel was who he was, and Levy would be by his side as he grew into the person he wanted to be. He had come so far. And no matter what he had done in the past, he was a member of Fairy Tail now. He was Levy’s one and only love.

“I thought I had lost you… right when we… Gajeel, I don’t ever want to feel like that again. Next time, don’t hold me back. If I can’t be with you, I...”

A strong, large hand cupped her cheek and Levy closed her eyes as Gajeel leaned down to kiss her. Even sitting in bed like this, he still had to bend down to reach her. Sometimes it irritated Levy. She could hardly reach him when they are out and about and even standing on her tiptoes, it was so hard to kiss him! Even though she wanted to do it all the time. If Gajeel was in her arms, if her lips were on his, then he wasn’t… Levy shuddered.

“I’m here, Levy,” Gajeel muttered into the kissed and held her tighter. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?” She asked quietly. It was a lot to ask, perhaps too much. Even now that they had defeated Acnologia… who knew what else was out there? It had taken all the mages in Alvarez to defeat him, all their magic and power to keep everyone safe.

But everyone else wouldn’t always be there. And Levy was not everyone, she was just one girl. How could she keep him safe? How could they keep each other safe? She never wanted to be torn apart from him like that again. She wouldn’t be able to live with it.

“I promise, Levy. You and me, we...”

Gajeel swallowed and ran a hand through his own hair.

“I meant what I said, you know?” He looked to the side and Levy blushed. All he had said… A family for them. That would be wonderful. No matter how scary everything could get, how dangerous the world could be.

“Good, because now you can’t take it back any more,” Levy said with a smile.

“Wouldn’t want to.” Gajeel pulled her down with himself, holding her tight in her arms as they went back to sleep. No nightmares plagued her this time.

* * *

Gajeel groaned as he got up the next morning. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stretched with a big yawn. He frowned as the sunlight shone directly into his eyes. The flimsy inn curtains did little to block the sun out. Maybe when they completed this job, they should look for a better room. A little vacation would be nice… well, anywhere would be nice, if Levy was with him. Sometimes Gajeel still couldn’t believe his luck.

This girl should hate him, by all rights. He didn’t deserve her love, but she gave it to him freely and fiercely. That such a tiny girl could hold such feelings, for someone like him…

“Levy? You up already?”

Gajeel wandered over to the small kitchen. Weird, she wasn’t here either. Maybe she went to the market? Pantherlily wasn’t around either – if she had gone, he would probably have insisted on going with her. Levy could hold her own, they both knew that, but there was something about a tiny beautiful girl that tugged at everyone’s protective instincts. Not that Gajeel would tell her that – her pouting when he made fun of her for being such a gnome was way too funny for that.

It made him uneasy that she wasn’t around. And maybe she’d scold him for it, thinking she couldn’t be left out of sight for even a moment, but something didn’t feel right.

He got dressed and left the room where he froze in his steps. His eyes darted down to an envelope crushed beneath his boot. Gajeel’s face turned wide when he saw what was sticking out of the shoddily glued folds.

Redfox

You shouldn’t have come here, but now we have no choice.

We have your woman, and the cat too.

You’re a fucked up bastard and I bet you know what will happen to them if you don’t surrender.

Come to the White Tree in the Naia Mangrooves and we’ll take care of this quietly.

Gajeel grit his teeth so hard he could taste blood in his mouth. His knuckled were white where he clutched the strands of blue hair that had come with the letter. They had_ touched_ her. They had touched his Levy. They had taken her and they had taken Pantherlily.

They would regret that.

* * *

“Let me go!”

Levy struggled fruitlessly, and the gang of rogue mages that had captured her only laughed. How had she let this happen? This wasn’t even a guild as far she could tell and she knew almost all of them. Knew everything that was written in all the tomes about magic. And yet, here she was, stolen away from the street. Pantherlily had tried to save her, but it had been too much for the both of them.

The cat lay still and bleeding on the grass.

“Pantherlily! At least let me treat him!”

“And let you escape before we can get Redfox here? Not a chance, missy,” their leader sneered. He was a large man with blonde, shaggy hair. Scars littered his body.

“What’s a pretty girl like you even doing with someone like that? He put something in your drink?”

“Gajeel is not like that!” Levy shouted and tore at her ropes. If only she could get a hand free, a foot, anything… But she couldn’t write like that. If only she was stronger! Then this wouldn’t have happened, Pantherlily wouldn’t be hurt and Gajeel wouldn’t be in danger either. There was this café Levy had wanted to visit with Gajeel and he probably would have complained but gone with her either way. Maybe she could have even persuaded him to try some of the cake instead of just some bland coffee. They could have had a nice date! Levy felt anger boiling inside of her at being denied such a simple thing. They had finally managed to find some alone time, together on a mission, away from the bustle of the guild, however much Levy loved it.

And now, everything was ruined. All because she was a stupid, weak girl, no matter how much she protested it. Erza wouldn’t have let herself get captured like that, or Juvia, or Lucy… Maybe she should have taken Erza up on her training offers sometimes instead of just reading.

If only she could remember the right spell from the books, something to help her out of here… the snarling voice of the leader interrupted her thoughts and she glared at him.

“Tsk. You know nothing about Redfox. What did he do to trick you? Heard he’s some kinda big shot with Fairy Tail now… He destroyed our lives and our guild and he gets rewarded like that? It’s fucked up, missy.”

“I know Gajeel made mistakes! I know he did bad things!”

He did those bad things to her too, after all. But people changed.

“Then you must know we are owed our revenge.”

“If you want to fight him, do it in the Magic Games! Do it like real men, not like cowards! Five against one, while holding someone hostage, shame on you!”

“Watch your mouth, missy. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt before your big hero shows up.”

Levy grit her teeth. She knew Gajeel would come here, he always did, he would come barrelling in and who knew what those people had planned for him.

“I don’t know what he did to you, but Gajeel’s not that man any more! If you’d only talk… if you could see him the way he is now,” Levy pleaded.

“Men never truly change. What he did to our guild, he’ll do to yours.”

“He already tried.”

The man blinked at her in confusion.

“He tried and he failed and he atoned for it. I won’t let you harm him for something he did long ago! That’s not him any more!”

“Listen missy, now you went too far,” the man hissed and Levy gagged when he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her. But she could not have stayed silent, she could not. Gajeel wasn’t like that any longer!

“I wanted to keep you alive, not your damn fault after all… but if you know what he did and you still want to protect him anyway, you can rot with him.”

Levy gasped for breath that wouldn’t come as the large hand squeezed her slender throat shut.

“DON’T YOU TOUCH HER!”

The sound of signing steel rang in Levy’s ears as a gust of wind rushed past her face. The grip the man had on her was released and she dropped. Before she could hit the ground, strong arms caught her.

“Gajeel!”

“Did they hurt you?!”

The angry screams of her captor interrupted her answer. He held one arm close to himself, blood flowing from the wound Gajeel had made with his blades.

“They want to kill you,” Levy coughed, her throat still tender from the abuse.

“Yeah, they can get in line,” Gajeel said and the smirk was on his face. For all the gentleness he showed Levy, when he fought he was a whole other man. Once upon a time, that had only ended in destruction and terror, but now he fought for those he loved, for his friends and for Fairy Tail.

He fought for her. Tears were filling Levy’s eyes.

“Let them try. Can you stand?”

Levy nodded and rubbed at her wrists when Gajeel cut the ropes.

“How’s Pantherlily?” He asked and the large human form of the Exceed was at their side. Pantherlily was bleeding and he still looked pale and unsteady, but they had all been hurt worse.

“I’m fine, Gajeel. Let’s show them what we are made of!”

And now that they were together again, nothing could stand in their way.

* * *

“They weren’t wrong,”, Gajeel said solemnly as he looked on the defeated bodies of their enemies.

“I did horrible things to many people. Truth be told, I can’t even tell you who they are. With Phantom Lord, the things I did… I did to many people,” Gajeel continued and Levy laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

“But that is not who you are now. You’re a good man, Gajeel,” Levy said with a small smile. Even if he didn’t believe it sometimes himself, Levy would always believe it. Would always believe in him. Pantherlily grinned and winked at her and before she knew it, the Exceed left into the woods. Levy blushed furiously. Even after their feelings were laid bare, to be alone with Gajeel was still… It made her heart beat faster even now.

She beckoned to Gajeel and he leaned down to meet her halfway.

Even when she raised herself to her toes, she could not kiss him otherwise. She gasped out into the kiss when he grabbed her by the thighs and lifted her.

She wrapped her legs around his broad waist and her small arms around his this neck. All that strength in him, all that power and magic and maybe she should have been afraid of him. Maybe she shouldn’t have come that close to him after all he had done.

But if she hadn’t, she would have never met the true Gajeel.

She would have never met her true love. The man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, wanted to have children with.

No, Levy regretted nothing.


End file.
